“Can KL Rahul cement his spot in India’s Test middle order?”. This was an article’s headline by the team at Cricbuzz ahead of the India-Bangladesh Test series.
KL Rahul: A 32-year-old batting mainstay who’s been around international cricket for a decade now. However, reports still talk about him having to fight for his spot in the test team.
But before we dive into the present, it’s important to set the context around KL Rahul. It’s important to understand the kind of career he started with, the potential he promised and where he is today. So let’s dial it back a notch before we get into stats and proof of why KL might be India’s most promising but most underachieving player in modern times!
Early Years & Potential
Picture a young 21-year-old Karnataka batsman, one with solid technique, dominating attacks in Ranji trophy cricket. KL had an outstanding 2013 season, notching up a whopping 1033 runs that consisted of 3 centuries, 3 scores of 90+ and a Man-of-the-Match performance in the final of the Ranji trophy. From there to an expensive IPL contract with the Sunrisers Hyderabad followed by twin centuries in the following year’s Duleep Trophy final!
This is as good as it gets for a young Indian batter in domestic cricket. Add to that, a triple century in next year’s Ranji trophy to become Karnataka’s first-ever triple centurion. Surely, an India call-up can’t be too far away- and it wasn’t. That very year, KL was not only picked but also made his debut for the Indian test team at the Border Gavaskar Trophy down under.
KL Rahul: The Next Big Thing!
Centuries in his 2nd, 4th and 6th test matches in challenging conditions, a century on his ODI debut. Heaps of runs in the IPL as well. Went on to make his T20I debut and became one of the few Indian batters and also the fastest to centuries in all three formats of the game.
From all that had transpired up until that point in his career, KL Rahul was undoubtedly touted as the next big thing and became the poster boy of Indian cricket. This man had every shot in the book, played the short ball well, could play spin and pace well, was fit, had patience and power- he had it all!
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Cricket: The Great Leveller
But at the end of the day, if you’ve seen highs, you’ll also see lows. Cricket especially, is a very funny game and a great leveller. And Rahul was no exception to this law of nature.
However, the low came in a rather peculiar fashion- off the field.
BCCI banned Rahul for a couple of matches due to his controversy on a celebrity talk show and this seemed to have some sort of drastic ripple effect on his cricket as well.
He hit multiple form slumps and to make matters worse, he also suffered multiple injuries. The period from 2021 to 2023 was packed with turmoil as Rahul picked up injury after injury. A total of 6 injuries in a space of 3 years meant that he was never really able to get into any sort of rhythm with the bat.
It was a very confusing period because Rahul also assumed captaincy on multiple different occasions across formats and at the same time seemed to be fighting a mental battle when it came to his batting.
KL Rahul & Test Cricket
Despite his initial blockbuster start in test cricket, Rahul’s consistency was often questioned. The fact that he also opened the innings, the toughest role in test cricket, did not help his case regarding averages and scoring heaps of runs!
The dilemma also lay in the fact that after a few failures, Rahul would pull out a clutch innings in tough conditions and reinforce the selector’s faith, at least to a certain degree. His record speaks for itself too- 7 overseas centuries with hundreds in Australia, England and South Africa!
And this is almost where the duality begins. How much do you back him? When do you drop him? By the time the India-Bangaldesh test series came along, Rahul had already featured in 50 test matches for India. Of batters batting in positions 1 to 6 for the Indian Test team, Rahul had the worst average for someone who had played in as many test matches!
Even on the world stage when we look at the same stat, KL is one of only two Indian players to feature in the top 50!
All this makes for some very interesting discourse around the Indian management, selectors and the system as well. To what extent do you back a hot and cold senior player when you have 10s of batters ready for international cricket and raring to go?
Until when do you continue picking them for the shell of potential that they’ve been showing for years and years? This, especially today, when Indian cricket is gifted with so much talent and in great abundance as well.
Positive Signs
Despite all of this, it seems that KL Rahul might finally realise his potential in Test cricket. At 32, he is fully fit, injury-free and starting to score runs again.
A century in South Africa on his return to test cricket followed by a couple of good outings against England and Bangladesh will mean that he’s slowly regaining confidence.
Not only of his own batting but also his management and skipper Rohit, who much like him, started blooming in Test cricket only around the age of 32, the same as what KL is today!
Ultimately, only time will tell us if KL Rahul can turn things around and dominate Test cricket in the fashion that many of us thought he would. For the sake of the Indian team, they will hope that KL can put away his demons and become a rock in the middle order, something that will also be crucial as India head towards another potential World Test Championship final.